Collboni and Mamdani, facing the same challenge: being able to make a life in large cities

BarcelonaThe residents of Barcelona and New York face the difficulty of living in their cities day after day. Large, open, and touristy. The high price of housing in both cities also extends to the shopping basket and basic services, widening a social gap that is becoming deeper and deeper and driving the working class out of the place where they had decided to forge their life project. In a meeting ahead of this weekend's U20 cities summit, the mayors of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, and New York, Zohran Mamdani, agreed this Saturday that, despite being very different cities, they face a common challenge: ensuring that the success and appeal of their metropolises do not end up making them uninhabitable for Barcelonans and New Yorkers.

"We must address what in Barcelona we call the right to stay in the city: public policy measures that protect access to housing for the urban middle class and working families, and affordability, the possibility of helping families make ends meet because the cost has gone up everywhere," stated Collboni, who argued that both have "a shared position" and an analysis of the role that large cities must play. The Barcelona mayor explained in statements to the media that he had shared "successful" experiences with his counterpart, such as rent regulation – which, he said, "has stopped the rise in prices over the last three years" –, the elimination of tourist apartments – a debate also open in New York – and the air conditioning of nearly 200 schools. According to Collboni, the School Climate Plan, which is funded by the tourist tax, is one of the elements that has most caught the attention of the New York leader.

In turn, Mamdani presented him with his municipal public supermarket, which is an infrastructure – projected on the ground floors of public housing buildings – that will allow for a reduction in the cost of food in neighborhoods where low-income people live starting next year. In total, the mayor of New York plans to open five establishments —one for each borough of the Big Apple— to offer basic products at affordable prices.

In this sense, Collboni has announced that the municipal government will also launch a pilot project in 2027 with a similar experience, although with some differences, in the Marina del Prat Vermell neighborhood: a network of affordable shops, managed by a third-sector entity, but in a publicly-owned facility, so that fresh and affordable products can reach it. "We are starting from very different realities, since we have markets in all neighborhoods, but there are vulnerable or newly created places with problems accessing basic food necessities," argued Collboni. The project will also be linked to a vocational training program.

The mayor of Barcelona also stressed that he shares a "conviction" with Mamdani at a time when democracies in many countries "are threatened" and multilateralism is "disregarded": "It is more important than ever that the great cities of the world stay in contact and exchange information, and that we activate all the international networks at our disposal to maintain cooperation projects and learn from one another," he stated.

Collboni's plan at the U20

Beyond the meeting with Mamdani, the highlight of Collboni's trip to New York is his participation in the U20 cities summit this weekend. An international forum that aims to draft a document on key issues such as affordable housing, homelessness, climate action, sustainability, and the protection of migrant communities to present it at the next G-20 meeting to be held in December in Miami.

In the case of the mayor of the Catalan capital, he will lead the session "Housing, affordability and the right to stay" this Sunday alongside the head of government of Mexico City, Clara Brugada. A session in which Collboni will present the main housing policies being carried out in Barcelona and in which the mayors of Rome, San Diego and Rotterdam are also expected to intervene, as well as the deputy mayors of New York and Los Angeles.

Collboni has made the defense of housing regulation on the international stage one of the hallmarks of his term. A path in which he has been one of the visible faces of the European-wide movement Mayors for Housing, a platform of mayors that has managed to influence the draft of the housing law presented by the European Commission at the beginning of September and which opens the door to regulating second homes and tourist apartments.

In fact, the municipal government's decision to extinguish all tourist apartment licenses in the city—about 10,000—starting in November 2028 is one of the measures that Collboni will brandish this Sunday at the U20 summit. Also others such as the definition of stressed zones in the city and rent caps.